The Golden Fleece (Penguin Modern Classics) by Graves Robert

Author:Graves, Robert [Graves, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780141970899
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2011-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

A Visit to the Mariandynians

The Black Sea is in outline like the shape of a bent Scythian bow with the string drawn up towards the north, and differs from the Mediterranean in a number of ways. It receives the water of a number of huge rivers, such as the Danube, Dniester, Boug, Dnieper, and Don, each of them greater than any river, except the Nile, that flows into the Mediterranean; and contains no single island of any considerable size. The northern parts are so cold that, incredible though it may seem, even the sea-water freezes, and the great Sea of Azov, which is connected with the Black Sea by a narrow strait, is often frozen two foot deep in winter. The largest rivers of all flow in from the north and north-west, greatly swollen in the spring and summer by melting snow; then their turbid waters move in a mass towards the Bosphorus, where, not being able to enter all at once, they pour in a current along the southern coast of the sea as far as the Caucasian mountains. The whole sea is subject to sudden fogs which blot out all sight of land, and its currents and winds often cause vessels to roll and pitch in a horrible manner even in fine weather; but it abounds in great fish, such as tunny, flounder, and sturgeon, and nowhere are its shores fringed with inhospitable desert sands.

From the middle of the northern coast juts out the Crimean peninsula where the savage Taurians live, who delight in human sacrifice and fix the heads of strangers upon stakes about their houses. Behind the Taurians live the Cimmerians, a small, dark, excitable people, famous for their singing and valiant in war, but addicted to sodomy; and both to the east and west of these Cimmerians live the long-lived, equitable Scythians, who have no homes but their wheeled carts, drink mares’ milk and are wonderful archers. Behind these, again, live the black-cloaked cannibal Finns; and the Neurians, many of whom become were-wolves by night; and the hunting Budinians, who paint themselves with red and blue dye, build stockaded wooden cities, and wear beaver-skin caps and tunics; and the Issedonians, who esteem it an act of piety to eat the dead flesh of their parents and make goblets from their skulls; and a bald-headed priestly tribe, the Argippians, who ride on white horses, carry no arms, and feed on milk curdled with cherry juice into a thick paste. On the western coast live the Thynians and Bithynians, who speak the Thracian language; and the lusty beer-swilling Goths; and the agricultural Scythians; and the Brygian fishermen, who wear sealskin breeches; and the tattooed, gold-getting Agathyrsians, who still worship the Triple Goddess with primitive simplicity. On the eastern coast live the Colchians and the mercantile Apsilaeans and the Royal Scythians. On the southern coast live tribes which will be described in order as the Argo makes her way past their territory or puts in at their

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.